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A forerunner for abstraction in Canada, Brooker was originally criticized for his innovative work which contrasted with the traditional landscape art of the time. His work was included in the “International Exhibition of Modern Art”, Assembled by the Société Anonyme in 1927 at the Art Gallery of Toronto, the first exhibition to introduce Canada to abstraction. Friends with the Group of Seven, and particularly close with Lawren Harris, Brooker was also a member of the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, often socializing and discussing theosophy with Harris and its place in painting.

Exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in 1972, “Creation” features the abstracted orb-like form, a hollowed figure filling the image plane, as the predominant feature of the composition. Rays of yellow emit vertically from behind the orb while diagonal lines in the upper left and lower right corners frame the composition, harnessing the powerful energy. The title hints at Brooker's endeavour to not simply paint static objects, but to capture an action; to paint verbs in a non-literal representation.

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Bertram Richard Brooker(1888 - 1955) Canadian Group of Painters, RCA

Born in Croydon, England Bertram Brooker moved with his parents to Portage la Prairie in 1905 and later to Toronto in 1921. He acquired a reputation as a writer, painter, musician, and poet. Brooker was a charter member of the Canadian Group of Painters and he won the Governor General's Award for fiction in 1936 for "Think of the Earth".
Bertram Brooker is an artist of several mediums and is a key example of liberation and innovation in the extensive history of Canadian art. Through a diversity of artistic interpretations and styles, Brooker captures both spiritual and commercial perspectives.

He preferred realism during the late '20s and early '30s. It was during this time that he was influenced by LeMoin FitzGerald, a friend of Brooker's and contemporary artist.

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